Inspired Unemployed boys in bitter court battle over beer

A pair of comedians who shot to fame by creating skits on social media while unemployed are facing a battle in court after their beer was accused of copying the design of another.

Larrikins Jack Steele and Matt Ford, better known as The Inspired Unemployed, collaborated with Torquay Beverage Company and Mighty Craft to launch Better Beer in October 2021.

The zero carb craft beer was the brainchild of Torquay Beverage Co’s Nick Cogger, but each of the comedians hold a 20 per cent stake in the company.

Months after Better Beer’s release, another beer company lodged proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia, claiming the influencers’ beer “made false, misleading or deceptive representations” when it launched.

Brick Lane Brewing, whose stakeholders include Billy Slater, Dan Carter, Eddie McGuire and Mick Molloy, launched the legal action in December.

The company claims consumers would be confused that their product, Sidewinder Hazy Pale, and Better Beer were related in some way and is seeking corrective advertising and damages.

The three-day trial kicked off in the Federal Court on Wednesday.

Brick Lane’s barrister Justine Beaumont told the court that the brand relied heavily on the “distinctive curve stripes” of the Sidewinder beer’s cans and packaging.

“Sidewinder Hazy Pale has the distinctive curve stripes, the blue, organ and yellow, and the off-white background,” Ms Beaumont said.

“A large amount of the background is left void in the off-white colour and the can is 355ml. We don’t say it’s unique, but it’s not the common size of a beer can.

“Then the dark colouring for the product name, font on the can and carton, which is black.”

Ms Beaumont told the court that Sidewinder had produced sales and marketing in the period before Better Beer was launched.

By this time, she said consumers had “recognised the get-up” as being associated with Sidewinder.

The court was told Sidewinder launched its Instagram profile in July 2021 when the can and its design appeared on the page.

“The emphasis on the stripes of the can in the tiles and the colour scheme,” Ms Beaumont said.

She told the court a media release was also issued by the brand on July 21, and more than 300 bus adverts had been erected, showing the Sidewinder beer.

Ed Heerey QC, acting on behalf of Better Beer and its owners, told the court a release on the Australian Stock Exchange on July 26, 2021, announced that the product would be going to stores in October that year.

He explained to the court that the Inspired Unemployed were “two unemployed” tradies who began making videos during Covid-19.

“The rest is history,” Mr Heerey said.

On the same day as the ASX announcement, Mr Heerey told the court that five articles were posted in various news outlets as well as on the social media pages of the influencers.

While it is not being suggested Better Beer copied Sidewinder, Mr Heerey said it was absurd that the two products would confuse consumers.

“If there’s anything you’re going to remember it’s the name. If you’re ever going to go back looking for it, you’ll need the name,” Mr Heerey told the court.

“There’s plenty of products with white backgrounds. Consumers have to look a bit harder than just colour schemes.

“The brand names clearly tell you which one is which. We would say there is no chance you could be misled.”

Mr Heerey told the court that beer consumers were confronted with a “large number” of brands regularly.

“It’s a visual cacophony of brands,” he said.

Head of Brands and Innovation at Brick Lane, Geoffrey Hall, took to the witness stand on Wednesday and told the court he came up with the idea for Sidewinder beer and kept the name and notes in a scrapbook for up to two years.

He said the name was captivating as it was “powerful” and described “energy” and promised “more than what it is”.

“It’s a missile, a boat, a snake,” Mr Hall said.

Mr Hall told the court Sidewinder brought out emotions of excitement, fun and freedom, with the flared stripes resembling a “3D effect of stripes coming up the page”.

“We wanted a bit of momentum or a bit of purpose to the design rather than being flat or static,” he said.

“Sidewinder is like being truant, like wagging school, it’s like being on the run and being naughty.

“Everything in the 70s was larger than life, muscle cars was symbolic of a time greater than ours when you could live more freely.”

Mr Hall said he was in shock when he saw the announcement for Better Beer in the same month he planned to release his product.

The court was told he sent an email to a colleague which said he was “spewing”.

“It takes such a long time to get an idea up and ready, we were ready to launch and had to keep moving,” Mr Hall told the court.

The trial continues before Justice Angus Stewart.